The deal is expected to be completed this month (April 2015), but the plane will be taken for refits and upgrades and might not be ready to fly for another year.
The plane is an Airbus A340 with the serial number
MSN 257. It was last operated by Air Blue of Pakistan, but has been stored
since February 2014.
The Airbus has an insured value of US$15 million,
but the insured value is expected to rise to at least US$30 million once
refurbishments have been completed.
The Airbus is at least 16 years old and its first
flight was registered on 28 January 1999. It was operated by Air Canada from
1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2008 it was operated by Air Jamaica and from 2008 to
2012 by Turkish Airlines. Air Blue operated the plane from 2012 and it has been
stored under the registration number N281AT since February 2014.
Luftfahrt-Versicherungslosungen
AG of Zurich, Switzerland, a specialist aviation brokerage company, was tasked
with finding insurance cover for the aircraft. It reported the ‘agreed value’ of
the plane to be US$15 million. It added, ‘Agreed value at inception will be US$15
million increasing to US$30 million during completion work over the next 11 to
12 months.’
Industry insiders say the refurbishment costs could
be more than anticipated by Luftfahrt-Versicherungslosungen, depending on the
degree of luxury the King demands. Plans are already being drawn up to build a
state room, a lounge and a royal lavatory on the aircraft. Similar planes with
‘VIP’ upgrades of their interior are being offered for sale on the Internet for
US$44 million.
Luftfahrt-Versicherungslosungen said, ‘The aircraft
will be undergoing completion and refit work which will be done by either
Avinor Canada or EAS France.’
It added, ‘The current owner of the aircraft is ILFC
[a global aircraft leasing company]. The aircraft is in Phoenix Arizona and the
ferry flight [taking the plane from the seller to the purchaser] will be from
Phoenix to Canada. Thereafter the aircraft will be purchased by the King of
Swaziland.
‘The serial number is MSN257. The aircraft is
currently on the N register [registered in the United States] but will be
re-registered to T7 (San Marino) or Kingdom of Swaziland. After completion the
aircraft will be used for private and industrial aid only.
‘The inception date is anticipated to be the 15 April
[2015].’
King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, already owns a modified McDonnel Douglas
DC-9-87 jet, also known as an MD-87. It cost US$9.5 million in 2012 and at
least another US$4.1 million was spent on refurbishments before the King took
delivery.
This jet is at present held by a court in Canada as
part of a business
dispute relating to alleged unpaid debts amounting to US$3.5 million for
the 2012 refurbishment. It is not known if the King intends to keep this jet
once he takes delivery of the Airbus.
King Mswati has a global reputation for living a lavish
lifestyle with fleets of top-of-the-range BMW and Mercedes cars and a Rolls
Royce. The King has 13 palaces and he, his family, and their entourage take expensive
international trips.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of his 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, with incomes of less than US$2 per day, three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of his 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, with incomes of less than US$2 per day, three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
In 2014, more than 3,000 cases of diarrhoea were reported
in the kingdom. More than 40 children died and at least another 500 were hospitalised.
Swazi Minister of Health Sibongile
Ndlela-Simelane said at the time Swaziland could not treat the children
with drugs that were readily available on the international market because of
budget constraints.
King Mswati is also at the centre of a US$141 million arbitration dispute after it was claimed in 2014 his appointees deliberately worked to make the Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine in Swaziland fail so the King would not have to repay a US$10 million loan he had been paid by the company.
King Mswati is also at the centre of a US$141 million arbitration dispute after it was claimed in 2014 his appointees deliberately worked to make the Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine in Swaziland fail so the King would not have to repay a US$10 million loan he had been paid by the company.
At the time mine operations
began in 2012 it was predicted the King would eventually make US$100 million
from the mine.
See also
KING'S
COMPANY AT CENTRE OF JET ROW
SWAZI
KING ‘REFUSED TO PAY JET DEBT’
SWAZI
KING’S JET HELD FOR UNPAID DEBTS
‘SWAZI
KING TO BUY US$44m PRIVATE JET’
HOW SWAZI KING DESTROYED IRON MINE
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